Dr. A.S. Priddy, the superintendent of the Virginia Colony, assigned Irving Whitehead, a former member of the colony's board, to be Carrie Buck's defense lawyer. Priddy died before the appeals in the case were heard, and John Bell succeeded him.
In an application for a marriage license, one had to indicate not only that he or she was not "a habitual criminal, idiot, imbecile, hereditary epileptic or insane person," but but also whether he or she was "white, colored, or mixed."
In his application for a marriage license, Charlie Sorrells indicated that both he and his fiancee, Sophia Jane Woods, were white. A.T. Shields, the same clerk of the court who denied Atha Sorrells' right to marry, signed the license. The Sorrells'…
Aubrey E. Strode drafted the 1924 sterilization law and acted as legal counsel to the Board of Directors of the Virginia State Colony. He was paid $750 to represent the Board in each of the appeals of Carrie Buck's case.